Fiber optic cable is usually supplied by vendors in standardized lengths of three kilometers or five kilometers, the cable itself being wound on a reel. In practice, fiber optic cables are ordered from a manufacturer in one of these standard lengths and installed in the ground with splice points at the ends of the cables. In some circumstances, it becomes necessary to cut the fiber cable at different lengths due to, for example, hazards along the installation path, short haul communication paths, or various other physical path impediments. Once the cable is cut, the fiber cable left on the reel may range in length from 1000 to 3000 feet. The majority of the time, this "left over" fiber optic cable is stored at various locations for future use--but due to its short length is infrequently used and is usually forgotten. With the known improvements in optical fiber splicing, particularly fusion splicing, there is extremely low optical signal loss in the splice region and it is possible to splice together various pieces of this "left over" fiber optic cable. However, the splice enclosures well known and used in the art, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,725, issued to W. H. Bensel, III et al. on Feb. 23, 1993, significantly increase the bulk of the cable and, as a result, prevent the spliced cable from being wound on a conventional fiber optic cable reel.
A need remains, therefore, for an arrangement suitable for splicing together short lengths of fiber optic cable where the arrangement allows for the spliced cable to be stored on a conventional cable reel.